seafloor

A former fisheries ship bought by Eric and Wendy Schmidt became a research vessel; by 2022, it had mapped 1.3 million square kilometers of seafloor

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Originally built in 1981 for fishery protection, Falkor was acquired by Eric and Wendy Schmidt in 2009 and converted into a research ship offering scientists free access. It completed 81 expeditions before being donated to Italy’s National Research Council in 2022 for continued ocean research. (Wikimedia Commons)

Originally built for fishery protection, scientists later used the ship for ocean research. Named Falkor, the 82.9-meter ship was originally built in 1981 as a fishery protection vessel. According to Schmidt Ocean Institute, Eric and Wendy Schmidt acquired it in 2009, when they founded the institute, and subsequently commissioned a two-year refit to convert it … Read more

A World War II submarine detector was later used to map magnetic stripes on the seafloor, helping scientists prove that Earth’s tectonic plates move

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A World War II submarine detector was later used to map magnetic stripes on the seafloor, helping scientists prove that Earth’s tectonic plates move

A device built to track enemy submarines during the Second World War went on to become one of the most important tools in Earth science. The fluxgate magnetometer, first developed to detect small disturbances in the planet’s magnetic field caused by metal hulls beneath the ocean surface, was later adapted by scientists to study the … Read more